The way a lot of people tend to go about life is to plan what they will do in varying degrees. Some are better at this than others. Some simply won't plan at all, instead drifting down the corridors of life, hoping to encounter good fortune, much like a
jellyfish. Others make
abortive attempts at planning, quitting easily if they encounter too many (which may mean one or more, depending on the individual) real or
fancied obstacles. The more fortunate among us know when it is necessary to establish a plan. These people know what a
goal is. Unfortunately, the
anatomy of decision-making within the human mind is not well-understood by the vast majority of people - and without this understanding, it is
that much harder to plot a course, and that much easier to get blown off whatever course has been set, when any course is set at all.
The idea of living by postulate is relatively simple, and has been around for ages, although most people have never heard of it, much less even thought it was possible.
Modern psychology attempts to ameliorate this through the idea of reframing, AKA self-actualization - you start by evaluating where you are in life, deciding where you want to be, determine how to effect this change, and then put it into action. It doesn't really go into living by postulate, but it is somewhat similar.
The Equation
postulate * intention = action
A brief explanation is in order. In this connotation, a postulate, at the simplest level, is an agreement with oneself that something is true. For example, I might postulate that it is possible for me to buy a new car in x amount of time if I save y amount of money plus a little extra, just in case. Another postulate might be that CO2 levels in an enclosure may be getting dangerously high, and an investigation must be done to determine the extent of danger, as well as what must be done to alleviate the problem.
Intention equates to the amount of energy a person is applying to a postulate in order to make it come about. A postulate without intention is a postulate that will never come to fruition. A postulate with negative intention will be brought about in reverse. If I postulate some formula for attaining that new car but my intention is that of laziness towards the idea of getting a new car, then I will certainly not do anything along the lines of saving up for that car. For the purposes of the equation above, this would be an intention factor of less than one.
If a person's intention is between zero and one (non-inclusive), the person will make a little effort towards bringing that postulate about, but without external input, the postulate will fall short of being brought about. If a person's intention is zero, the person will not do anything specifically for or against the postulate. If it is below zero, the person will actively, if subtlely, work against bringing about the postulate.
If, however, a person's intention is equal to 1, the person will take all necessary steps to make sure the postulate is brought about within a reasonable time frame. If it is greater than one, the person will take special and even extraordinary measures to make it happen more quickly, or to yield a better result.
Therefore, it follows that a person who can attach significant intention to a useful postulate will have an easier time at life, whereas a person with weak or negative intention towards useful postulates will have a harder time. The more force you can apply appropriately to your environment, the better off you are, since you are more in control, and less subject to external transient factors that you might otherwise be able to deal with.
In the case of a neurotic individual, the intention factor of the equation is usually less than one (and often zero or less than zero) towards useful postulates, and greater than zero (and often one or greater than one) towards unuseful or harmful postulates - for example, stabbing an innocent person in the back with a rusty knife is a harmful postulate, and the murderous individual is demonstrating a high level of intention toward it, when it would be more beneficial for all involved if that individual had a postulate about the importance of respect for life and strong intention in that direction.
Examples for p * i = a
- i = -0.04 - The postulate is there, but the individual is actively working against it.
- i = 0.04 - The postulate is there, but the action resulting from it is very weak or nonexistent, and all activity towards that action is slow and very prone to external forces.
- i = 0.89 - The individual is moving in the direction set forth in the postulate, but not at full speed. i may have been higher to start with, but reduced by the encountering of some obstacle - or it may have been lower, and boosted up by some success.
- i = 1.02 - The individual is actively pursuing the postulate, and even applying a little extra effort to yield a better result.
- i = 1.5 - The individual is pursuing the postulate with extreme prejudice, quickly and decisively handling all obstacles, destroying them where necessary. An example of this would be an ambulance driver who is transporting a heart attack victim to a hospital.
- i >= 2 - Extraordinary acts. A person who sees another trapped underneath a car, undergoes a massive adrenaline surge, and lifts the car unassisted to free the person is in this condition. That person is driving their muscles to the point of massive damage and tearing them off the tendons, but rescuing that person must be done. Parents have been known to rescue their children in this manner. Another example would be the homeless man who, several years ago, ran up to a burning car and carried its occupants out, one by one.
Application
How do you live by postulate? Well, first you've got to know that it is possible, and that you can do it. Give it a try. Think of some relatively easy task that you balked at recently - for example, maybe you're thirsty and you want a glass of water, but you're glued to e2. Form a postulate that you are going to get a glass of water immediately, and attach an intention of 1.0 to it. Once you attach that intention, you will rise out of your chair without thinking about all the false reasons why you shouldn't get a glass of water, and find yourself in the kitchen drawing that glass of water.
Then you can experiment with attaching different levels of intention to these simple tasks. After half an hour goes by, form a postulate that you want another glass of water. Attach an intention of 0.9 to it. If you really set i to 0.9, you will dawdle for a few seconds and then get up for a glass of water.
Practicing setting various levels of intention will enable you to recognize when you think you are setting an intention at one level, but are actually setting it at another. You can use this data to calibrate your thought patterns. Do it enough and you will find yourself more capable of deliberately directing an arbitrary amount of intention at something.